field glass

American  

[feeld glas] / ˈfild ˌglæs /

noun

1. Usually field glasses. binoculars for use out of doors.

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field glass British  

noun

1. a small telescope often incorporating a prism and held in one hand

2. a former name for field glasses

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Etymology

Origin of field glass

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

field glass

But they are drilled solidly in such elementary stuff as rolling a pack, using field glass and compass, managing fire distribution and control.

From Time Magazine Archive

During the long war, Billy Lee usually carried the general’s field glass, or telescope, and “most precious letters,” perhaps those from his wife, Martha, most of which she later destroyed.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Figure 82.—Brass field glass in case of russet leather, stated to have been used by General George Washington at Valley Forge.

From Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers by Silvio A. Bedini

The field glass and German silver top of a 2-foot telescope, a coffee canister, a piece of a brass curtain rod.

From In the Arctic Seas A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions by Francis Leopold McClintock

Rob, however, knew differently, for by using that convenient field glass of his, he could see that there were several men still up there.

From The Boy Scouts Under Fire in Mexico by Lieut. Howard Payton